National Light Pollution Guidelines for Wildlife

Animals perceive light differently from humans and artificial light can disrupt critical behaviour and cause physiological changes in wildlife. Artificial light can stall the recovery of threatened species and interfere with a migratory species’ ability to undertake long distance migrations integral to its life cycle.

To address this conservation challenge, the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment in collaboration with the Western Australian Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions has developed the National Light Pollution Guidelines for Wildlife including Marine Turtles, Seabirds and Migratory Shorebirds. The guidelines aim to raise awareness of the potential impacts of artificial light on wildlife and provide a framework for assessing and managing these impacts around susceptible listed wildlife.

The guidelines were developed in consultation with local, state and territory governments and were recently endorsed by the international Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species in the Wild.

The guidelines are available on the Department’s webpage.

For further information please contact: MigratorySpecies@awe.gov.au.